Pages of Interest

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

#New Release: INFINITE EXPANSE by BC Powell

Excerpt:

I immediately dig my feet into the grass and race across a meadow. As I
sprint between two hills, I glance up at the sky. The scarlet light dims, the
billows begin to swirl, and raindrops splatter against my face. Surrounded by
full Darkness, I continue running until I enter the long valley that winds to
the Empty Hill. I eventually reach the narrow gorge that leads to our habitat,
but as I pass by, a smear of white catches the corner of my eye.

Grinding to a stop on the wet grass at the end of the ravine, I stare in
the direction of our habitat. A black-veined beast leaps from a ridge and lands
directly in front of the door. My eyes widen at the sight of the Murkovin one
hundred feet in front from me. When his eyes shoot back at mine, I drop to one
knee and plunge my fingers into the ground.

“Sash, Larn, Tork!” I blurt out. “Murkovin at Sash’s habitat!”

Red eyes flaring through the rain, the Murkovin charges at me. I drop my
practice spear to the grass and rise into a crouch. As I clench my real weapon
with both hands, every moment I spent sparring with Sash strobes through my
mind. I have to anticipate, think, focus, but my body trembles with panic and
my heartbeat throbs inside my head.

Bearing down on me in a sprint, the beast is ten feet away when he lunges
his spear at my face. As the tip rockets towards me, I’m frozen in place, the
world suddenly in slow motion. Waiting until the split second he’s off-balance,
the moment before the point pierces my skin, I jerk my head to the side. The
steel just grazes my hair before I uncoil in a frenzied spin.

While whirling my spear through the air, I lock my eyes on his head.
Following my aim, the steel point slams straight into his skull. Light bursts
around the shaft when the tip skewers his brain. Thrusting down with all my
might, I crush his head against the ground.

I glare at the limp creature at my feet. Black blood spews from his head
into the downpour of rain. I’m completely numb, unable to even feel my hands
clamped around the shaft of my spear. Shaking from the rush of adrenaline, I
feel no remorse at all from killing the beast. Sash’s words ring in my ears.

“When it’s kill or be killed,
there’s no hesitation, no thought, and no regret.”

I snap my head to four more streaks of white on the hill above our
habitat. The hideous creatures soar over the ridge and into the ravine.

“Shit!” I yell.

After ripping my spear from the skull of the corpse, I dash towards the
Empty Hill. I may have killed one, but I won’t stand a chance against four.

Glancing over my shoulder as I run, I see all four Murkovin in pursuit.
One suddenly blasts into dull beams of light. In an instant, the point of his
spear gouges my calf, sending me sprawling to the ground. I slide to a stop on
the slick grass and roll to my back.

With veins bulging from his spectral white arms, the beast rams his
spear at my head. I swing my weapon up just in time to knock the point away
from my face. Before either of us has time to make another move, a blur smashes
into him and pounds him into the grass. In a flash, Sash’s spear splits his
skull open. She wheels around to the other three Murkovin while I jump to my
feet.

It’s not a battle. I wouldn’t even call it a fight. When Sash unleashes
a torrent of death from her spear, it’s a massacre.

Evil lurks in the desolate Barrens
of Krymzyn. For millions of Eras, predators with insatiable cravings have
prowled the wasteland. When a traitor of the Delta enters their realm, the
solitary beasts may finally have a leader to unite them.

As a new order emerges in the
Barrens, Chase and Sash begin their lives together. While Chase fights to prove
he belongs in Krymzyn, the power inside Sash flourishes in ways no one could
have imagined. But a vengeance from the wasteland is soon unleashed upon them.

After Chase is trapped deep in the
Barrens, his only escape is into the Infinite Expanse. Unaware of the deathly
perils that take shape there, he may be lost forever. For Sash to return him
from the endless wilderness, she’ll have to harness a mystical energy not seen
since the beginning of time.

BC Powell is a fantasy author from Los Angeles, CA. His
debut science fiction fantasy novel "Krymzyn" was published in
October, 2014. "The Infinite Expanse", the highly anticipated
second book in "The Journals of Krymzyn" series, is scheduled for
release on March 31, 2015.

Powell has a diverse background, having held several creative positions in the
entertainment industry, including executive roles at ABC-TV and Technicolor. In
recent years, he's authored several non-fiction works, primarily educational
books and training programs for trading the financial markets. He dual majored
in journalism and philosophy at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Writing fiction has been his lifelong passion and goal. “The Journals of
Krymzyn” represents, in his words, “finally finding the story I want to tell
with characters that are able to bring that story to life.” He's an avid
reader and lists Ernest Hemingway, Frank L. Herbert, Stephen King, Jane Austen,
and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. as his favorite authors.

Brad, as he prefers to go by in personal communication, lives with his longtime
girlfriend, three sons from a previous marriage, and their rescue dog and cat.
He enjoys hiking, ocean kayaking, spending time at Southern California
beaches, movies, and reading.

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